36 research outputs found

    Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Technology in Mathematics Teaching (ICTMT 15)

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    Socratic Circles are a Luxury : Exploring the Conceptualization of a Dialogic Tool in Three Science Classrooms

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    Research has shown that dialogic instruction promotes learning in students. Secondary science has traditionally been taught from an authoritative stance, reinforced in recent years by testing policies requiring coverage. Socratic Circles are a framework for student-led dialogic discourse, which have been successfully used in English language arts and Social studies classrooms. The purpose of this research was to explore the implementation process of Socratic Circles in secondary science classes where they have been perceived to be more difficult. Focusing on two physical science classes and one chemistry class, this study described the nature and characteristics of Socratic Circles, teachers’ dispositions toward dialogic instruction, the nature and characteristics of student discussion, and student motivation. Socratic Circles were found to be a dialogic support that influenced classroom climate, Social skills, content connections, and student participation. Teachers experienced conflict between using traditional test driven scripted teaching, and exploring innovation through dialogic instruction. Students experienced opportunities for peer interaction, participation, and deeper discussions in a framework designed to improve dialogic skills. Students in two of the classrooms showed evidence of motivation for engaging in peer-led discussion, and students in one class did not. The class that did not show evidence of motivation had not been given the same scaffolding as the other two classes. Two physical science teachers and one chemistry teacher found that Socratic Circles required more scaffolding than was indicated by their peers in other disciplines such as English and Social studies. The teachers felt that student’s general lack of background knowledge for any given topic in physical science or chemistry necessitated the building of a knowledge platform before work on a discussion could begin. All three of the teachers indicated that Socratic Circles were a rewarding activity, beneficial to students, which they would use in the future

    Collaborative Robotics, More Than Just Working in Groups: Effects of Student Collaboration on Learning Motivation, Collaborative Problem Solving, and Science Process Skills in Robotic Activities

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    Robotics in education has shown the potential to positively benefit student learning and attitudes towards learning. However, a necessary part of robotics instruction is group collaboration. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine what collaborative scaffolds, or interventions, produce positive effects for students working on collaborative robotics projects for science process skills, collaborative problem solving, and motivation. In addition, the study examined the impact students’ prior robotics experience had on science process skills, collaborative problem solving, and motivation. The study had two experience levels, Novice and Experienced, and three intervention conditions. The interventions included Assigned Group Roles, Classroom Discussion, and Previous Instructional Practices, which followed practices from prior years without any additional collaborative supports. All the participants experienced problem-based learning during the collaborative robotics project with collaborative scaffolds based upon their intervention conditions. The goal of the study was to identify what collaboration interventions can best support the collaborative nature of robotics instruction and create a beneficial learning environment for students by supporting student collaboration and possibly improving student motivation, collaborative problem solving, and science process skills. Furthermore, the study sought to identify impacts of different robotics experience levels to fully understand collaborative robotics projects for students as they progress through a continuing robotics curriculum. The results of the study indicated experience level and collaboration interventions can have impacts on students. Assigned Group Roles had positive effects on students’ motivation and collaborative problem solving. Experience level also had effects upon student motivation and collaborative problem solving with the Novice level demonstrating higher outcomes. A collaboration intervention was identified that has the potential to produce positive effects for students in collaborative robotics projects as well as assist classroom educators in the purposeful design of collaborative robotics projects with scientifically based strategies to improve the attitudinal outcomes for students of various robotics experience

    Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Technology in Mathematics Teaching: Making and Strengthening "Connections and Connectivity" for Teaching Mathematics with Technology

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    The 15th International Conference on Technology in Mathematics Teaching (ICTMT 15) took place on September 13–16, 2022, in the Danish School of Education, Aarhus University, located on campus Emdrup, in the Northwestern district of Copenhagen, Denmark. There were a total of 66 participants from 15 different countries. ICTMT 15 certainly focused on the impacts that the coronavirus pandemic has had on global mathematics education. However, it looked at the impacts of digital technology from a much wider perspective. In particular, the conference aimed to highlight how technology facilitates the multiple “Connections and Connectivity” between us all to achieve the goals of purposeful mathematics education in the early 21st century. By “Connections” we mean the interrelationships between researchers, teachers, students, parents, policymakers, and industry (big and small). “Connectivity” includes oral, aural, textual and gestural communications as mediated by the internet, learning environments and classroom activities. Together, “Connections and Connectivity” describes the relationships between people, between different ideas and strategies to teach, and between people and environments. It offers a frame through which to interpret assessment in mathematics education as a more formative process from the point of view of both teachers and students

    Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Technology in Mathematics Teaching: Making and Strengthening "Connections and Connectivity" for Teaching Mathematics with Technology

    Get PDF
    The 15th International Conference on Technology in Mathematics Teaching (ICTMT 15) took place on September 13–16, 2022, in the Danish School of Education, Aarhus University, located on campus Emdrup, in the Northwestern district of Copenhagen, Denmark. There were a total of 66 participants from 15 different countries. ICTMT 15 certainly focused on the impacts that the coronavirus pandemic has had on global mathematics education. However, it looked at the impacts of digital technology from a much wider perspective. In particular, the conference aimed to highlight how technology facilitates the multiple “Connections and Connectivity” between us all to achieve the goals of purposeful mathematics education in the early 21st century. By “Connections” we mean the interrelationships between researchers, teachers, students, parents, policymakers, and industry (big and small). “Connectivity” includes oral, aural, textual and gestural communications as mediated by the internet, learning environments and classroom activities. Together, “Connections and Connectivity” describes the relationships between people, between different ideas and strategies to teach, and between people and environments. It offers a frame through which to interpret assessment in mathematics education as a more formative process from the point of view of both teachers and students

    The Intersection of Young Children\u27s Play Activities and Multimodal Practices for Social Purposes

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    This qualitative study examined how children’s play activities and multimodal practices intersected for social purposes. Mediated Discourse Analysis (Scollon, 2001) informed the theory and methodology. Four questions guided the study: 1) In what types of play do preschoolers engage? 2) What strategies do preschoolers use to navigate the social boundaries of playframes? 3) What are the various modes and resources preschoolers use to engage in playframes and how do they use them? 4) What social positionings do preschoolers take on and resist in playframes? Participants included two co-teachers and twelve of the children in their pre-kindergarten classroom. Data was collected over a five-month period using participant observations and field notes. Analysis focused on multimodal discourse that took place during free play time. Four findings emerged from the study: 1) Six types of play emerged across playframes; 2) Children used entry, invitation, sustainment, and protection strategies in their playframes; 3) Children used various modes and resources, including their bodies, props, and alphabetic print, to enact character roles and social roles; and 4) Children moved fluidly within and across insider and outsider social positionings in playframes. This study extends research focused on the social dynamics of young children’s classroom play experiences and argues for an extended conceptualization of multimodal literacy as analyzed in young children’s play

    Preservice Teacher Engineering Design Teaching Efficacy

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    Science educators are tasked with enacting The Next Generation Science Standards that include engineering core ideas and practices. Many teacher preparation programs and content courses do not include or require engineering design leading many science teachers to believe they are unprepared to teach engineering design. The lack of experience and belief of being unprepared to teach engineering design results in preservice educators’ lack of engineering design teaching self-efficacy. Preparation programs inclusion of efficacy in is essential to understanding later enactment. This mixed-method case study researched the engineering design teaching self-efficacy of eleven preservice educators during an engineering design unit taught in a science methods II course at a university in the western U.S. The changes in preservice educator self-efficacy over the development and delivery of an engineering design unit was explored to describe fluctuations and elements of the engineering design unit that influenced efficacy. This researcher triangulated journals, focus groups, journey maps, video protocols, and instructor session notes to better describe the influence of the elements of an engineering design unit on preservice educator efficacy development. The analysis revealed that the engineering design unit included elements that facilitated sensemaking leading to task competency beliefs. These engineering designs teaching self-efficacy beliefs developed over time with wavelike fluctuations. Preservice educator engineering design teaching self- efficacy progresses from onset, developing, emerging, to maturing. Fluctuation in efficacy is consistent with progression if preservice educators receive mentorship to facilitate sensemaking through the process. To reach the efficacy maturing stage, teachers need the autonomy to enact engineering design curriculum and needed science education reforms. It is expected that a description of developmental engineering efficacy will assist professional learning instructors and curriculum developers to increase enactment of engineering design in secondary science classrooms. Student engagement and engineering literacy may result when teachers have increased engineering design teaching self-efficacy

    Designing personalised, authentic and collaborative learning with mobile devices: Confronting the challenges of remote teaching during a pandemic.

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    This article offers teachers a digital pedagogical framework, research-inspired and underpinned by socio-cultural theory, to guide the design of personalised, authentic and collaborative learning scenarios for students using mobile devices in remote learning settings during this pandemic. It provides a series of freely available online resources underpinned by our framework, including a mobile learning toolkit, a professional learning app, and robust, validated surveys for evaluating tasks. Finally, it presents a set of evidence-based principles for effective innovative teaching with mobile devices
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